Apprenticeships

Lord Janner of Braunstone: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to encourage more businesses to employ people aged 16-24 in apprenticeships.

Baroness Wilcox: To encourage businesses to take on apprentices, Government contribute towards the cost of their training; for 16-18 year-olds the Government fully fund the training costs.
	The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (introduced from 1 April) aims to increase the number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) offering apprenticeship places to young people. Up to 40,000 incentives are available this financial year to SMEs taking on an apprentice aged 16-24 for the first time.
	The National Apprenticeship Service, which promotes and supports apprenticeships, is prioritising the 16-24 age group in its work to engage new employers in the programme and when determining funding allocations to training providers.

Armed Forces: Commemoration

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 7 February (WA 31), whether a decision has been taken on the bid for the Merchant Navy Medal to be granted a position in the Order of Wear in the Diamond Jubilee year.

Earl Attlee: Further to my Written Answer on 26 March (WA198), the matter remains subject to consideration by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals. No decision has yet been taken.

Artists' Resale Right

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British artists have received Artist's Resale Right (ARR) payments since February 2006 on individual sales between £1,000 and £3,000, excluding those artists who also benefited from payments on sales above £3,000; and, for those artists who were not excluded, what was the average individual ARR transaction.

Baroness Wilcox: Under the Artist's Resale Right Directive 2001 /84/EC, and the Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006, Government are not required to collect or retain any information on sales or royalties paid. Consequently the Government do not hold the data asked for in this question.
	However, figures from the independent Szymanski report, commissioned by the previous Government, show that during the first year of resale right in the UK, 436 living British artists received payments for sales in the €1,000 to €3,000 span, but of those only 167 (around a third) had sold items falling into other cost spans. Figures the Government have received from the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) show that over a number of years post 2006, sales between €1,000 and €3,000 amounted to around £75,000 of resale payments per annum, and made up nearly a third of all currently qualifying sales.

Aviation: Passenger Duty

Lord Monks: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures they have in place to audit air passenger duty payments made to them by airlines.

Lord Sassoon: Airline operators registered for air passenger duty (APD) are audited on a rolling basis, in line with many of the other taxes managed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
	A number of factors are taken into account when determining the frequency of the audits. These include the complexity and size of the business, its past and current compliance history and general passenger number data, which airports are required to provide on request.
	HMRC's management of APD is open to audit by the National Audit Office.

Bank of England

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the collateral required under the Bank of England's extended collateral term repo facility; and how this facility differs from the bank's terminated special liquidity scheme.

Lord Sassoon: The extended collateral term repo facility is a Bank of England facility. As stated on the Bank of England website, the Bank would normally expect collateral used in the Extended Collateral Term Repo operations to have been pre-positioned for potential use in the discount window facility. Details of collateral accepted in the discount window facility are provided on the Bank of England website. Details of the bank's special liquidity scheme (SLS), including information on the collateral that was eligible for use in the SLS, are also outlined on the Bank of England website.

Bank of England

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the maturities proposed under the Bank of England's Extended collateral term repo facility are materially shorter than offered under the European Central Bank's long-term refinancing operation.

Lord Sassoon: The extended collateral term repo facility is a Bank of England facility. This facility will provide sterling liquidity for a period of six-months, through monthly auctions.
	The Governor has also announced a new funding for lending scheme, which will provide funding to banks for an extended period of several years.

Bank of England

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 13 June (WA 251), whether HM Treasury will now commission an independent review into the role and actions of the court and the governance of the Bank of England.

Lord Sassoon: The Government are pleased that court has announced the commission of three independent reviews into areas of the bank's performance and current capabilities and look forward to seeing the outcome of this work.

Benefits

Baroness Drake: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their plans to end child benefit as a universal benefit, what steps they are taking to ensure that women who would otherwise have an underlying entitlement to child benefit will still be credited with the national insurance record needed to accrue entitlement to a state pension.

Lord Sassoon: National insurance credits, which protect a person's future entitlement to basic state pension and the state second pension, will remain available for those claiming child benefit for a child less than 12 years old.
	Parents and carers who get national insurance credits linked to claiming child benefit will not lose them on the basis of their household income, even if they choose not to receive the actual payments or their partner has to pay the new tax charge.
	The introduction of the tax charge will not affect a person's right to claim child benefit. Parents and carers will have two options to safeguard their state pension, which will be made clear on the child benefit form:
	they can claim child benefit, receive the payments and, if liable, they or their partner can pay the new tax charge; or they can register for child benefit to establish entitlement to the credits but choose not to receive the actual payments; this means that neither they nor their partner will be liable to pay the new tax charge.

Births: Under 18s

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the number of (1) pregnancies, and (2) deliveries to married girls below 16 years old in England in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010, (e) 2011, and (f) to 1 June 2012.

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the number of (1) pregnancies, and (2) deliveries to married girls below 18 years old in England in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010, (e) 2011, and (f) to 1 June 2012.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for ONS, to Baroness Tonge, dated June 2012.
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what was the number of (1) pregnancies, and (2) deliveries to married girls below 16 years old in England in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010, (e) 2011, and (f) to 1 June 2012. And also, what was the number of (1) pregnancies, and (2) deliveries to married girls below 18 years old in England in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010, (e) 2011, and (f) to 1 June 2012.
	This question has been answered using conceptions data to represent pregnancies and maternities data to represent deliveries. Conception statistics are estimated for women usually resident in England and are based on birth registrations and abortion records. Maternity statistics are based on birth registrations. Information on marital status is provided by the informant at the time of the birth or abortion. Marital status may have changed between conception and birth or abortion.
	The table in the attached spreadsheet shows the number of conceptions and maternities to married women under the age of 18 as well as under the age of 16 between the years 2007 to 2010, the latest years for which figures are available.
	
		
			 Number of conceptions and maternities in England to married women under the age of 16 and 18, 2007-10 
			  Age 2010 2 2009 2 2008 2007 
			 Maternities Under 161 7 3 5 15 
			  Under 18 175 211 205 264 
			 Conceptions Under 161 12 21 9 14 
			  Under 18 233 327 369 405 
		
	
	1 The minimum legal age for marriage is 16 years of age in England and Wales. However, it is possible to marry at younger ages in other countries.
	2 The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 contained provisions enabling two females in a same-sex couple to register a birth from 1 September 2009 onwards. Due to the small numbers in England in 2009 and 2010, births registered to a same-sex couple in a civil partnership are combined with births within marriage. Similarly conceptions within a civil partnership are included with conceptions within marriage.
	Source: Office for National Statistics.
	Copyright and reproduction
	(c) Crown copyright 2012
	You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence.
	To view this licence, go to: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/
	or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

Care Homes

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take in response to the increase in the number of whistle-blowers coming forward to the Care Quality Commission with concerns regarding standards in care homes.

Earl Howe: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all providers of regulated health and adult social care activities must be registered with the CQC and meet the essential levels of safety and quality. In addition to inspections, the CQC uses a wide range of information in its assessment of providers including any concerns raised by staff. The CQC can take independent enforcement action where it finds a provider is not meeting the requirements.
	The CQC is responsible for assessing the information it receives. The CQC has a centralised system for managing all whistleblowing concerns raised with it which makes sure that they are properly considered by its local inspectors.

Care Quality Commission

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the likelihood that the Care Quality Commission will be able to register all general practitioner practices by April 2013.

Earl Howe: Providers of National Health Service primary medical services will be required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) from 1 April 2013. The CQC has made good progress in putting in place the mechanisms for registering these providers, who will be able to open their online applications in July. We are informed by the Commission that it is on course to carry out the registration of these providers by April 2013.

Channel Tunnel

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 27 June (WA 65), what steps they are taking to increase transparency of the composite elements of the access charges to all users of the Channel Tunnel.

Earl Attlee: The Joint Economic Committee of the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) is currently investigating the charging regime in the tunnel to establish its level of consistency with European legislation including those aspects which govern its transparency.
	The report of the first stage of the committee's work was published in October 2011. A further report is due to be published this autumn.

Channel Tunnel

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 27 June (WA 65), what assessment they have made of whether the proposed takeover by Eurotunnel of the French ferry company SeaFrance raises any potential competition issues.

Earl Attlee: It is a matter for the competition authorities (either the European Commission (DG Competition) or the Office of Fair Trading) to determine whether a takeover raises competition issues, not the Department for Transport.

Children: Access

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compliance with court orders arising from cases involving the contact between children and their parents following the parents' separation.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what they consider to be a reasonable length of time for the resolution of court cases concerning a parent denied contact with their child.

Lord McNally: Applications for contact are private law proceedings under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. Section 1(2) of that Act makes it clear that the court shall have regard to the general principle that any delay in determining the arrangements for a child is likely to prejudice the welfare of that child. The Government have committed to take forward recommendations from the Family Justice Review designed to tackle unnecessary delays in the courts.
	Every contact case is different and there is no single pathway for a case to follow. However, revised guidance issued by the President of the Family Division in April 2010 requires that the first hearing should, where practicable, take place within four weeks of the application being issued, and in any event within six weeks.
	Prior to the first hearing CAFCASS will undertake safety checks and report the outcome of these to the court. The court will then consider any safety issues and decide how to deal with these. If appropriate and safe the court may decide to make an order for contact at the first hearing.
	Where a case cannot be settled at the first hearing the court will decide how the case should progress. That could include: holding a finding of fact hearing to establish any allegation of domestic violence made; adjourning the proceedings to enable the parties to attempt mediation; ordering a welfare report to be prepared by CAFCASS; or directing one or both parties to attend a contact activity designed to promote contact with the child concerned (for example, attendance at a meeting to find out about and consider mediation or participation in a parenting information programme or domestic violence perpetrator programme). In addition, the courts can, and frequently do, make short duration orders to establish or re-establish contact and to enable the parties to test out arrangements for the child with a view to the court making a substantive order to settle the case.
	In relation to compliance with contact orders, the family courts have an inherent power to treat breach as a contempt of court, with the sanction of a fine or imprisonment, although this is rarely used in family proceedings. In December 2008 the courts were given wider powers to enforce contact orders through an enforcement order for unpaid work or an order for the payment of financial compensation where a financial loss has been incurred due to a breach. Data from Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals service shows that in the year April 2011 to March 2012 there were 463 applications for an enforcement order and 260 applications for a financial compensation order.
	The Government recognise that non-compliance with contact orders remains an issue which undermines confidence in the family justice system. On 13 June the Government launched a consultation which includes proposals to extend further the range of enforcement powers available to the courts. That consultation closes on 5 September 2012.

Climate Change

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they provide for the establishment and maintenance of non-governmental organisations in the United Kingdom that deal specifically with matters relating to climate change.

Lord Marland: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not provided funding for the establishment and maintenance of non-governmental organisations in the United Kingdom that deal specifically with matters relating to climate change in the last financial year.

Climate Change

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty's Government what amount and what proportion of the British Council's public funding is allocated to initiatives specifically aimed at addressing climate change, such as the International Climate Champions and Challenge Europe programmes.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The British Council's total grant spend on climate change programmes in 2010-11 was £5.4 million and in 2011-12 was £2.2 million. As a proportion of the British Council's total grant in aid this represents 2.8% in 2010-11 and 1.2% in 2011-12. In addition to its grant spend, the British Council secured £0.5 million and £1.0 million in partnership income for climate work in 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively.

Climate Change

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding has been allocated to the International Climate Fund; and how this funding has been spent to help developing countries tackle climate change.

Baroness Northover: I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to his question on 26 June 2012 (Official Report, col. WA 45).
	Further information is contained in the publication "UK International Climate Fund: Tackling Climate Change, Reducing Poverty", a copy of which is available on the DfID website at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Key-Issues/Climate-and-environment/International-negotiations/.

Companies: Directors' Pay

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Wilcox on 20 June (Official Report, col. 1778), what consultation arrangements are in place for employees of UK companies to provide advice on directors' pay.

Baroness Wilcox: We encourage employees to make use of the tools that they have to express their views on directors' pay. Under regulations implementing the information and consultation directive, all employees of organisations with 50 or more staff have the right to request an information and consultation (MX) agreement. The request must be supported by 10% of employees. The employer is then obliged to negotiate with staff to agree on the topics they will be consulted on and how.
	The Government are currently consulting on revised remuneration reporting regulations, determining what companies should be required to say in directors' remuneration reports about whether employee views have been sought.

Companies: Directors' Pay

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider the proposal that workers should be consulted over directors' pay to be a step towards syndicalism, and whether they will consider introducing legislation for workers' representation on management boards to be elected by, and from, the employees of the enterprise.

Baroness Wilcox: The current consultation on revised remuneration reporting regulations includes a question on whether the forward-looking, policy section of the remuneration report should include a statement on whether and if so how a company sought employee views on the remuneration policy. The Government look forward to analysing all the responses after the consultation closes on 26 September 2012.

Companies: Directors' Pay

Baroness Noakes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the proposals in relation to directors' pay announced by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 20 June will apply to all listed companies or only to those in the FTSE-100 index, as suggested by Baroness Wilcox on 20 June (Official Report, col. 1779).

Baroness Wilcox: The reforms will apply to all UK incorporated, listed companies, of which there are around 1,000.

Creative Industries: Loans

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop a loan guarantee scheme to benefit small and medium sized enterprises working within the creative industries.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: Government have no current plans to develop a loan guarantee scheme specifically for small and medium sized enterprises in the creative industries sector in the United Kingdom. Businesses in this sector can already benefit from a range of existing finance schemes. These include the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, Enterprise Capital Funds, the Business Angel Co-Investment Fund, the National Loan Guarantee Scheme and the Business Finance Partnership.

Creative Industries: Loans

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of small and medium sized enterprises in the creative industries they envisage will access finance under the economic stimulus package announced on 15 June.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The Government are giving this proposal careful consideration, in the context of the proposals for other European Union financial instruments and the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for 2014-20. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has received a number of representations from creative industries, particularly in response to its consultation on the Creative Europe proposal earlier this year. The consultation report and responses are available on the DCMS website at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/9132.aspx.

Creative Industries: Loans

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what projections they have made of the additional investment that the provision in the European Union's Creative Europe proposal for a loan guarantee scheme would leverage for the creative industries; and what proportion of this they expect would be leveraged for use in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The European Commission forecast in its impact assessment that the Creative Europe loan guarantee scheme could leverage between €964.44 million (£771.46 million) and €2.8 billion (£2.24 billion) in additional investment for the creative industries across the European Union over the seven year period 2014-20, if the current budget proposal is maintained. However, we are seeking reductions to the budget proposal in line with our overall priority of limiting the EU budget to a real terms freeze. We have not made a separate projection of the total amount of additional investment which is likely to be leveraged either for the European Union as a whole or for the United Kingdom in particular.

Driving: Breathalyser Tests

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact on road deaths and injuries of introducing a system, such as that in France, requiring drivers to keep a disposable breathalyser in their vehicles.

Earl Attlee: The Government have not assessed the potential impact of requiring the carrying of the disposable breathalysers system by drivers in the UK, because they have no plans to introduce a system similar to that in France. It will however be interested to learn about the experience in France.
	Requiring the use of disposal breathalysers in the UK would place a burden on the many drivers who do not drink and drive and the police in enforcing the requirement. It could also risk more drivers trying to drive when close to the legal limit.

Economy: Debt

Lord Stevens of Ludgate: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered cancelling the Government debt held by the Bank of England; and if so, what is their assessment of what the consequences would be.

Lord Sassoon: The independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England (MPC) has operational responsibility for monetary policy. The MPC makes decisions on its policy tools, including quantitative easing (QE), in order to meet the 2% inflation target in the medium term. Under QE, the Bank of England purchases assets such as gilts from the private sector, financing this by the creation of central bank reserves.
	The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK's economic policy framework. To use monetary policy tools to meet fiscal objectives, such as financing government borrowing, could conflict with the MPC's objective of price stability and undermine confidence in the UK's monetary policy framework. Additionally, Government borrowing from the central bank is illegal under Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Energy: Renewables Obligation Certificates

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are reviewing the valuation basis and value of renewables obligation certificates; and whether the terms of certificates issued can be retrospectively amended.

Lord Marland: The value of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) to an electricity supplier is assumed to average at the buyout price (which a supplier can pay to discharge its obligation) plus 10%. The buyout price is calculated by Ofgem in accordance with article 43 of the Renewables Obligation Order 2009. The Government have no plans to review these provisions. The actual value of a ROC to a generator will depend on supply and demand for the ROCs during the obligation period in question, and the individual arrangements reached between generators and the supplier or other person to whom they sell the ROC.
	Once a ROC has been issued it can be revoked by Ofgem in certain circumstances. The powers for the renewables obligation include powers to make an order varying the number of ROCs that can be carried over to the following obligation period and powers to vary the level of support, including for existing generating stations. However, for most technologies we have a grandfathering policy of not changing the level of support for accredited generating capacity.

EU: China

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what contacts they have had with other European governments on resolving the outstanding restrictive trade and investment practices imposed by the Government of China upon exporters and investors from the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Baroness Wilcox: Trade-related issues are discussed in Europe both bilaterally and in formal EU committees, for example at the Trade Foreign Affairs Council on which I represent the Government, and at the Trade Policy Committee (Full Members) where a senior BIS official represents the Government. The Government engages fully in these fora.
	During these discussions, China regularly features in relation to specific cases of restrictive practices and in relation to the EU's overall trade strategy with China. Most recently, for example, I participated in discussions on China at the Trade Foreign Affairs Council on 31 May.
	HMG officials in Beijing and Brussels are also in regular bilateral contact with their EU counterparts on these matters. For example directors from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills met with German officials on 9 May 2012 to discuss EU-China trade issues.

EU: China

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent representations they have made to the Government of China regarding the implementation of protectionist trade policies by that country.

Baroness Wilcox: Ministers and officials regularly discuss trade and investment issues on a bilateral basis with the Chinese Government. I myself have met with Chinese officials on a number of occasions, including my visit to China from 26 May to 1 June 2012, and raised protectionist policies. Other recent examples include meetings between the Prime Minister and senior Communist Party official Li Changchun on 17 April 2012; the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission on 15 December 2011 which I attended alongside the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, and Skills; and the Chancellor's talks with the Chinese Vice-Premier at the UK-China economic and financial dialogue in September 2011.
	HMG officials regularly discuss trade and investment issues with Chinese counterparts, for example, in June 2012, officials from BIS, Cabinet Office discussed Chinese procurement policies with Chinese Government officials. There is also routine dialogue between officials at the UK embassy in Beijing and officials from the relevant Chinese ministries.

EU: Creative Europe Programme

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with other European Union member states concerning the financial settlement for the proposed Creative Europe programme, and in particular plans to increase the suggested budget.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The Government have had a number of discussions with other member states on the proposed Creative Europe programme. However, we have been very clear that we cannot consider specific proposals for individual programme budgets until the negotiations on the overall multiannual financial framework for 2014-20 have been completed. We have also made it clear that we will be seeking reductions to the Commission's proposal for this programme, in line with our overall priority of limiting the EU budget to a real terms freeze.

EU: Financial Assistance to Member States

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will press for European support for Spanish banks to be provided through the European Financial Stability Facility rather than through the European Stability Mechanism.

Lord Sassoon: On Monday 25 June 2012, Spain officially requested financial assistance from the euro area to recapitalise its banks. The decision on whether financial assistance will be funded by the European Stability Mechanism or from the European Financial Stability Facility is a matter for the euro area member states.

Finance: Regulation

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with the Government of the United States about the view expressed by Mr Gary Gensler, the chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, that lax regulation of financial services in the United Kingdom was leading to a "London loophole", endangering world financial stability.

Lord Sassoon: The Government regularly conduct meetings with a range of officials involved in domestic and international financial services industries, during which matters of mutual interest are discussed.
	The Government are committed to reforming and strengthening regulation of financial services in the UK and internationally, including: through the Financial Services Bill currently before the House of Lords; through work to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking; and through implementation of the G20 commitments on financial regulation, including the implementation of Basel 3 in Europe.

Forced Marriage

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce legislation to criminalise forced marriage.

Lord Henley: On 8 June we announced our plans to criminalise forced marriage. Subject to parliamentary time, we hope to introduce the legislation in the 2013-14 session.

Forced Marriage

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend that any forthcoming criminalisation of forced marriage would have extra-territorial effect .

Lord Henley: The Government have recently signed the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence on behalf of the United Kingdom. Officials are currently preparing plans to ratify the convention, including the options as regards the appropriate extraterritorial application of new criminal law relating to forced marriage. An announcement will be made in due course.

Forced Marriage

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend that any forthcoming criminalisation of forced marriage will include terms on (1) deportation, (2) the withdrawal of United Kingdom citizenship, or (3) the application of financial penalties for perpetrators.

Lord Henley: We have not yet drafted the new offence and so are not yet in a position to say how it will work. An announcement will be made in due course.

Government Departments: Apprentices

Lord Adonis: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total number of staff employed within the private offices of ministers and the permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office on 1 June; and how many of them were (1) under the age of 21, (2) apprentices under the age of 21, and (3) apprentices over the age of 21.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many apprentices (1) under the age of 21, and (2) over the age of 21, were employed within the Cabinet Office on 1 June, excluding agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: As at 1 June 2012, the Cabinet Office employed 14 apprentices of which 10 apprentices were under the age of 21.
	The total number of civil servants employed within the four ministerial private offices and the Permanent Secretary's Office at the Cabinet Office is 23. None of these staff are under the age of 21 and there is one apprentice over the age of 21.

Government Departments: Apprentices

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many apprentices were taken on by each government department in (1) 2009-10, (2) 2010-11 and (3) 2011-12, and how many are still in post.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: It is for individual departments to decide whether to engage apprentices.
	The overall numbers of apprentices placed into departments in each of the years was 2009-10: 2992, 2010-11: 2148 and 2011-12: 1812
	The decrease in numbers reflects the downsizing in the number of civil servants across government since May 2010. Civil Service Learning will be consulting departments in July on how we can potentially facilitate a cross-government approach.
	Data are not held centrally regarding the numbers still in post.

Government Departments: Apprentices

Lord Adonis: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total number of staff employed within the private offices of ministers and the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence on 1 June; and how many of them were (1) under the age of 21, (2) apprentices under the age of 21, and (3) apprentices over the age of 21.

Lord Astor of Hever: As at 1 June 2012 there were a total number of 32 staff employed within the private offices of ministers and the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence. None of the incumbents are aged under 21 and none of them are apprentices.
	The provision of opportunities to gain nationally recognised civilian qualifications through the accreditation of education, training and experience is an important part of the way we train and develop both civilian and military personnel.
	The Ministry of Defence as a whole achieves some 13,000 apprenticeship completions each year (level 2 and level 3).
	MoD values its apprentices and currently runs two in house civilian apprenticeship engineering schemes; Technician and Craft, managed respectively by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and Defence Support Group (DSG). Workplace apprenticeships leading to NVQ certification are also delivered through an external training provider. The best civilian apprentices from establishments across the UK are recognised at an annual awards ceremony hosted by the Chief of Defence Materiel.
	The MoD also participates in the fast stream programme and runs its own internal development programme (called means identifying developing internal talent). Both are accelerated development programmes. Fast stream is a cross Civil Service programme designed to attract graduates and MIDIT is an internal development programme which identifies and fosters internal talent. Members of both schemes are guaranteed a series of job placements designed to prepare them for senior managerial positions within the organisation. Members of both programmes regularly and routinely work in private office roles, including for Ministers and the Permanent Secretary.

Government Departments: Apprentices

Lord Adonis: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many apprentices (1) under the age of 21, and (2) over the age of 21, were employed within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 1 June, excluding agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Baroness Wilcox: On 1 June 2012 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills employed a total of 19 apprentices, only one of whom is under the age of 21.

Government Departments: Legal Payments

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what payments were made by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to (1) Clifford Chance, (2) Freshfields, (3) Slaughter and May, (4) Allen and Overy, and (5) Linklaters, in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11, and (d) 2011-12; and to what those payments related.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: Only one of these firms, Linklaters, was used by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport during the requested period. The amounts paid per year are shown in the table below. The fees were paid for professional advice in connection with an asset sale.
	
		
			 Financial Year Amount Paid (£) 
			 2008-09 Nil 
			 2009-10 143,267 
			 2010-11 756,812 
			 2011-12 893,858 
			 Total 1,793,937

Government Departments: Legal Payments

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what payments were made by HM Revenue and Customs to (1) Clifford Chance, (2) Freshfields, (3) Slaughter and May, (4) Allen and Overy, and (5) Linklaters, in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11, and (d) 2011-12; and to what those payments related.

Lord Sassoon: During the periods requested HMRC has made payments to Slaughter and May as detailed below. Our systems do not show payments to any of the other businesses listed.
	
		
			 Service Provider Spend per financial year (£) 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Slaughter and May 0.00 2053.11 1722.00 0.00 
		
	
	The payments were for legal services relating to the copying of court documents.

Government: Ministerial Visits

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the official attendance by Ministers at national and international events is financed by public funds and, if so, what is the likely saving arising from their boycott of the Euro 2012 football championships in the Ukraine.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Ministerial Code provides guidance to Ministers on the funding of travel arrangements.
	Information is not held on the likely savings arising from Ministers' non-attendance at the Euro 2012 football championships in the Ukraine.

Greece: Currency

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their advice to those planning to visit Greece regarding currency arrangements.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government advise all British nationals planning visits overseas to check the Foreign Office travel advice pages on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website. Under the general "staying safe and healthy" section there is advice on travel money. Before travelling anywhere in the world, the FCO advises travellers to take enough money to cover emergencies and unexpected delays and to consider taking more than one means of payment (cash, debit card, credit card). There is no specific advice for Greece.

Health: Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to respond to the National Advisory Group for Specialised Services' recommendation on atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome.

Earl Howe: The Advisory Group for National Specialised Services met recently to consider whether there should be a nationally commissioned service for the treatment of atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome. Ministers have yet to receive its recommendation.

Health: Pre-natal Diagnostic Tests

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 11 June (WA 170-2), how many women whose pregnancies registered as high risk following a biochemical serum screening went on to have one of the available diagnostic tests in each year for which records are available.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pre-natal diagnostic tests for disability were carried out in each year for which records are available, and how many of those tests returned negative results, according to whether they were an alpha-feto protein test, a chorionic vilius sampling test, an amniocentesis or a cordocentesis.

Earl Howe: The department does not collect these figures centrally. The Association of Clinical Cytogenetics collects data on the number of invasive procedures undertaken following a positive Down's syndrome screening result on behalf of the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme. Figures for the number of women receiving a screen positive result and the number of diagnostic procedures undertaken are provided in the following table.
	Test results for those women referred for prenatal diagnosis is not collected.
	
		
			  Screen Positive Amniocentesis Chorionic villus sampling Total 
			 2003-04  28,700 8,286 36,968 
			 2004-05  24,349 7,980 32,329 
			 2005-06  22,625 7,819 30,444 
			 2006-07  14,733 4,781 19,514 
			 2007-08 19,019 12,932 4,681 17,613 
			 2008-09 20,318 8,317 3,129 11,446 
			 2009-10 15,910 6,795 3,669 10,464 
			 2010-11 17,125 6,353 4,195 10,548

Health: Professional Standards

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many health care assistants have been banned from working with patients for failing their duty of care towards patients or clients in each of the past 10 years.

Earl Howe: The department does not hold information on the number of healthcare assistants that have been banned from working for failing in their duty of care.
	The role of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is to establish if an individual poses a continued risk of harm to vulnerable groups. If this risk is established then the ISA can bar an individual from working in certain roles in health and social care including health care assistant roles.
	The ISA is reliant on the job title provided by organisations and this can differ widely between employers and across the sectors. Therefore being precise about the number of health care assistants who have been barred is not possible.
	In 2011 there were 115 cases referred to the ISA where the individual's job role was described as healthcare assistant. All of these were considered for barring, with five individuals subsequently being barred.
	However, in the same period the ISA concluded over 1,800 cases where the individual was described as being "in a care or support role within a health or social care setting", 245 of these cases resulted in the individual being barred.

Higher Education: Business Modules

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will require universities to include in all courses a module on understanding businesses.

Baroness Verma: Universities are autonomous organisations, entirely responsible for deciding the content of their own courses.
	Professor Sir Tim Wilson's independent Review of Business-University collaboration makes some recommendations aimed at improving the employability and enterprise skills of students. The Government published their response to the review on 26 June 2012.
	We welcome the good work that universities already undertake, but want to see even greater employer-university collaboration-for example, in providing work experience, co-designing and kite-marking courses. That is why we are funding Council for Industry and Higher Education to establish a National Centre for Universities and Business, which will gather evidence, bring together university and business leaders, and support engagement between stakeholders. This will include work to support good practice in developing students' employability and enterprise skills.

Homelessness: Rough Sleepers

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many rough sleepers there were in each region of the United Kingdom at the most recent count.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many rough sleepers were aged 25, or younger, at the most recent count.

Baroness Hanham: Data on the number of rough sleepers aged 25 or younger are not collected centrally by the department. However, the London Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) annual report for 2010-11 highlights that the proportion of young people seen rough sleeping remained low-8% were under 25. Only four people under 18 were contacted.
	The regional rough sleeping figures for England can be found on the department's website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/20936651.xls.

International Passenger Survey

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of the Office for National Statistics' International Passenger Survey in each of the past five years; what was the rate of refusal to answer; how those individuals questioned when landing in the United Kingdom were chosen; whether bus passengers were questioned; how long the interviews took; and in what languages interviews were conducted.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for ONS, to Lord Laird, dated June 2012.
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question to Her Majesty's Government. asking what was the cost of the Office for National Statistics' International Passenger Survey in each of the last five years: what was the rate of refusal to answer; how those individuals questioned when landing in the United Kingdom were chosen; whether bus passengers were questioned; how long the interviews took; and in what languages interviews were conducted. [HL1123]
	I am able to report the following details.
	1. The cost of the International Passenger Survey in each of the last five years has been:
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£) 
			 2007-08 3,169,706 
			 2008-09 5,137,036 
			 2009-10 6,099,479 
			 2010-11 6,046,282 
			 2011-12 5,403,395 
		
	
	Up to 2007-08. the survey's indirect costs were not recorded against the survey. From 2008-09. both direct and indirect costs are recorded. Indirect costs are therefore not reflected in the 2007-08 figure.
	2. The rate of refusal to answer in each year was as follows:
	
		
			 Calendar year % Refusals 
			 2007 1.7 
			 2008 1.9 
			 2009 2.2 
			 2010 1.9 
			 2011 1.7 
		
	
	3. At airports IPS interviewers conduct their work airside in a location where all arriving international passengers can be counted. The interviewers count individuals arriving in the United Kingdom as they cross a predetermined line and select every nth passenger crossing that line for interview. The sampling interval, n. is predetermined. A similar approach is adopted for passengers arriving by Eurostar. On sea and tunnel routes passengers are counted in car lanes. foot arrival halls, or onboard and are then selected to a pre-determined sampling interval.
	4. Bus passengers were questioned. Anyone entering the UK by bus will travel via sea or tunnel routes, both of which are sampled.
	5. The average length of an IPS interview is approximately four minutes. For foreign residents arriving in the UK the average length is approximately two minutes.
	6. The IPS is conducted in English. However, self completion questionnaires are made available in Italian, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Bulgarian and Romanian in case any selected passenger is unable to answer in English.

London Festival 2012

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much National Lottery or Government funding is expected to be spent (1) in total, and (2) on a per capita basis, in support of events forming part of the London Festival 2012 in each of the eight events categories described in the official guide.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: As the finale to the four-year Cultural Olympiad, the London 2012 Festival is organised and delivered by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), in partnership with a range of funders and delivery organisations. The total funding contributed by the National Lottery and Government is £33.76 million (although other sources of public funding are included as co-funding, but not recorded centrally).
	As the festival has just opened, per capita costs cannot be calculated as the events have not taken place. Analysis has not been made to map these costs across each sub-heading within the London 2012 Festival Guide.
	From the information it holds, LOCOG estimates that the investment in London 2012 Festival events from the public and private sectors amounts to £55.37 million as follows:
	Olympic Lottery Distributor: £13.97 million;Co-funding: £12.73 million *;Arts Council England: £12.10 million;LOCOG: £5.01 million **;Legacy Trust: £3.87 million;Greater London Authority: £3.87 million; andDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport: £3.82 million.
	* Co-funding includes a variety of funding sources-ticket income, corporate sponsorship, BBC, Channel 4, Creative Scotland, Arts Councils of Wales and Northern Ireland, VisitBritain, various smaller sponsors, co-commissioning income from partner arts organisations, trusts and foundations.
	** LOCOG is a private company independent of Government and primarily privately-financed.

NHS Commissioning Board

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what geographical relationship there is between the individual local arms of the NHS Commissioning Board and the strategic health authorities established in 2002.

Earl Howe: The NHS Commissioning Board Authority (the preparatory body for the NHS Commissioning Board) has decided that the board should have 27 local area teams. Details of the areas they will cover were published on the Authority's website on 20 June and can be found at the following web address. https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/commissioning board/files/2012/06/lat-senates-pack.pdf
	The areas covered by the 27 local area teams have been determined primarily by reference to the coverage and boundaries of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the boundaries of upper-tier local authorities. Other factors such as clinical networks and senates, local resilience forums and local health resilience partnerships were also taken into consideration.
	The geographies of the former strategic health authorities (SHAs) established in 2002 were not considered by the authority when agreeing with the National Health Service, CCGs, local government and other partners the number and shape of the local area teams. While there is no deliberate relationship between these areas and those of the 28 SHAs established in 2002, 13 of the 27 do have the same boundaries as those of the original SHAs:
	North West London;Durham, Darlington and Tees;Greater Manchester;West Yorkshire;Essex;Shropshire and Staffordshire;Birmingham and the Black Country;Arden, Hereford and Worcester;East Anglia;Kent and Medway;Surrey and Sussex;Devon and Cornwall; andNorth Yorkshire and the Humber.

NHS: Monitor

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether Monitor's role in economic regulation will be a barrier to integrated health care.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that Monitor's role in price setting will support the integration of NHS care.

Earl Howe: The Health and Social Care Act states that Monitor must exercise its functions with a view to enabling the provision of integrated services, including integration of health and social care services, where this increases the quality of health services or reduces health inequalities. Monitor's duty to enable integration will also apply to its responsibilities for the national tariff, including developing proposals for calculating the prices to be paid for the services specified in the tariff.
	Monitor will be required to report annually on how it has exercised its functions, including its duty to enable integration. It will lay these reports before Parliament.

NHS: Patient Data

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the current barriers to the use by research groups of (1) anonymised, and (2) identifiable NHS patient data.

Earl Howe: The law provides researchers access to anonymised data without permission. If personal identifiable data are required then the consent of the patient must be sought. The common law of confidentiality may be set aside using Section 251 of the National Health Service Act 2006, under which the Secretary of State may grant researchers such access as is important for the patient or the public good.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-departmental public bodies the Department of Energy and Climate Change has funded since May 2010; and how much funding in total has been allocated to those bodies.

Lord Marland: Details of the funding provided to the Department of Energy and Climate Change's non-departmental public bodies is published in its annual report and accounts.
	Figures for the period 2009-11 can be found in Table 15 (Page 99) of "Department of Climate Change Annual Report and Accounts" http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about-us/goals-commitments/2212-decc-annual-report-20102011.pdf)
	Figures for 2011 -12 will be published in the annual report and accounts due to be laid before Parliament on 11 July 2012.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of United Kingdom official development assistance funding is not disbursed by the Department for International Development; who disburses this funding; and to what official development assistance this funding contributes.

Baroness Northover: In 2011, the proportion of United Kingdom official development assistance (ODA) funding not disbursed by DfID was calculated to be 11%. 2011 ODA figures are still provisional and will be updated in DfID's statistics on international development in the autumn.
	DfID's Statistical Release on Provisional UK Official Development Assistance as a Proportion of Gross National Income, 2011 (see link below) identifies the other government departments that disburse ODA and the types of assistance provided.
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/News/Press-releases/2012/Provisional-UK-Official-Development-Assistance-as-a-proportion-of-Gross-National-Income-2011/.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 20 June (WA 302), which 20 non-governmental organisations, consultancies and contractors, excluding the United Nations, its agencies, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have been the top recipients of United Kingdom aid in each year since 2008-09.

Baroness Northover: The 20 non-governmental organisations, consultancies and contractors, excluding the United Nations, its agencies, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which have been the top recipients of United Kingdom aid in each year since 2008-09 are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Standard Chartered Bank* Adam Smith Int* 
			 Crown Agents and Admin** The Crown Agents* 
			 HLSP Ltd* VSO 
			 Adam Smith Int* GRM International* 
			 Maxwell Stamp Plc* KPMG Development Service 
			 KPMG Development Service* Crown Agents Govts and Admin 
			 HTSPE Ltd* Save the Children 
			 British Council* British Council 
			 International Rescue Committee UK International Rescue Committee UK 
			 Oxford Policy Management* HTSPE Ltd* 
			 ATOS Consulting Limited* British Council* 
			 IMC Worldwide Ltd* Oxfam 
			 Options Consultancy Services Limited* HLSP Ltd* 
			 GRM International Ltd* ABT Associates* 
			 Capita Helm Corporation Ltd* Cambridge Education* 
			 Health Partners International* International Aids Vaccine Initiative 
			 Malaria Consortium* Maxwell Stamp* 
			 Cambridge Education Consul* Merlin 
			 Save the Children Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation 
			 The British Red Cross Society BMB Mott Macdonald* 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Adam Smith Int* The Crown Agents* 
			 KPMG Development Service SG Hambros 
			 The Crown Agents* Adam Smith Int* 
			 Save the Children Save the Children 
			 GRM International* KPMG Development Service 
			 International Rescue Committee UK International Rescue Committee UK 
			 ABT Associates* Price Waterhouse Cooper* 
			 British Council* GRM International* 
			 Cambridge Education* CSC 
			 British Council Cambridge Education* 
			 IMC Worldwide* ABT Associates* 
			 Triple Line Consulting Limited Maxwell Stamp* 
			 Crown Agents Govts and Admin Crown Agents Govts and Admin 
			 HTSPE Ltd* British Council* 
			 Price Waterhouse Cooper* Triple Line Consulting Limited 
			 Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation HTSPE Ltd* 
			 Medical Research Council Medical Research Council 
			 Society for Family Health* Society for Family Health* 
			 Merlin IMC Worldwide Ltd* 
			 BMB Mott Macdonald* ATOS Consulting Limited* 
		
	
	* Spend relates to technical co-operation.
	* * Spend covers technical co-operation and non governmental organisation activities.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 20 June (WA 302-3), what is the breakdown between programme and project aid, and what proportion each represents of the UK's overall aid budget.

Baroness Northover: In terms of reporting amounts of United Kingdom aid, DfID does not distinguish between the terms "programme" or "project".

Overseas Aid

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 21 June (WA 320), since the establishment of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) what percentage of the Department for International Development's work has been evaluated by the ICAI; and whether they consider this sufficient.

Baroness Northover: The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) has reviewed past, current and future financial periods, looking at cross-cutting thematic areas such as anti-corruption as well as individual country programmes such as the climate change programme in Bangladesh. Given this methodology, it is not possible to state what percentage of the DfID programmes has been evaluated by ICAI. ICAI has produced its own three year work plan for May 2011 to May 2014 which covers key components of the UK Aid programme. This work plan can be found at http://icai.independent.gov.uk/publications.
	ICAI reports directly to Parliament through the International Development Select Committee. It would be inappropriate for DfID to comment on the level of ICAI's coverage.

Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value for money of the aid they provide to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Baroness Northover: Each new project is approved on the basis of a value for money assessment. This includes assessing the strength of the evidence provided in each business case for the intervention and comparing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of different delivery options. Each project is reviewed annually, and at project completion, to monitor the results that have been delivered. From 2012 a new assessment judging value for money has been introduced as part of these reviews and all reviews are publicly available.
	DfID's operational plan for the Occupied Palestinian Territories contains an overarching review of its value for money and a results framework which is monitored annually to ensure results being delivered are in line with those planned. We assess that UK aid is on track to deliver key results as set out in our operational plan.
	Results achieved through DfID support in 2011-12 include: 347 enterprises reporting improved performances in annual sales or productivity, interventions leading to the suspension of 124 eviction or demolition orders, 201,253 individuals covered by cash transfers and 43,187 children attending primary school.

Police: Fatalities and Injuries

Viscount Simon: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in each police constabulary area were killed or seriously injured on roads in each six-month period from October 2008 up to the latest period for which figures are held.

Earl Attlee: The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of reported killed or seriously injured casualties by police force in each six month period from October 2008 until September 2011: Great Britain 
			   Number of killed or seriously injured casualties 
			  Oct 2008 - Mar 2009 Apr 2009 - Sep 2009 Oct 2009 - Mar 2010 Apr 2010 - Sep 2010 Oct 2010 - Mar 2011 Apr 2011 - Sep 2011 
			 Police Force KSI1 KSI1 KSI1 KSI1 KSI1 KSI1 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,531 1,599 1,503 1,517 1,272 1,421 
			 Cumbria 115 147 83 151 107 132 
			 Lancashire 419 461 361 465 352 419 
			 Merseyside 285 277 275 221 279 257 
			 Greater Manchester 400 422 354 394 347 396 
			 Cheshire 306 331 255 325 273 320 
			 Northumbria 290 317 243 289 217 233 
			 Durham 96 154 106 117 96 115 
			 North Yorkshire 300 318 265 296 227 307 
			 West Yorkshire 520 510 440 497 420 471 
			 South Yorkshire 284 244 266 214 226 235 
			 Humberside 249 271 222 281 223 268 
			 Cleveland 91 99 87 76 71 78 
			 West Midlands 458 484 483 478 488 490 
			 Staffordshire 149 165 137 148 110 139 
			 West Mercia 232 291 184 221 168 216 
			 Warwickshire 133 152 154 169 121 175 
			 Derbyshire 248 308 226 229 177 220 
			 Nottinghamshire 309 296 273 284 280 321 
			 Lincolnshire 191 239 222 263 208 257 
			 Leicestershire 170 215 167 187 180 184 
			 Northamptonshire 179 219 151 167 143 171 
			 Cambridgeshire 249 247 206 239 205 217 
			 Norfolk 173 203 193 191 150 181 
			 Suffolk 171 184 170 169 133 158 
			 Bedfordshire 129 136 117 144 88 112 
			 Hertfordshire 210 211 196 216 181 182 
			 Essex 406 437 356 450 368 373 
			 Thames Valley 447 527 431 482 481 508 
			 Hampshire 475 466 427 519 480 598 
			 Surrey 274 309 242 281 262 291 
			 Kent 374 356 301 336 272 293 
			 Sussex 469 511 430 438 415 501 
			 City of London 23 28 17 21 23 24 
			 Devon and Cornwall 226 240 222 315 294 283 
			 Avon and Somerset 283 291 240 313 221 251 
			 Gloucestershire 95 137 89 111 93 113 
			 Wiltshire 164 154 168 159 152 144 
			 Dorset 186 215 178 184 160 166 
			 North Wales 173 197 130 170 149 235 
			 Gwent 110 68 66 76 62 71 
			 South Wales 158 191 168 191 154 173 
			 Dyfed-Powys 174 193 133 193 146 210 
			 Northern 88 105 60 89 58 82 
			 Grampian 160 193 170 199 154 160 
			 Tayside 114 150 100 120 95 122 
			 Fife 61 71 49 76 58 57 
			 Lothian and Borders 215 218 154 216 163 195 
			 Central 76 72 54 73 49 74 
			 Strathclyde 552 470 360 395 368 357 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 43 72 47 34 41 57 
			 Great Britain 13,233 14,171 11,931 13,389 11,460 13,013 
		
	
	1 Killed or seriously injured

Railways: Double Track

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the economic benefits of upgrading the single line railway between Salisbury and Exeter to double tracks over the whole of its length.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the social benefits of upgrading the single line railway between Salisbury and Exeter to double tracks over the whole of its length.

Earl Attlee: We have not made a recent assessment of the economic or social benefits of upgrading the Salisbury to Exeter line or doubling it along its whole length.

Railways: Fare Evasion

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 27 June (WA 76), whether, for future franchises where revenue support is provided, they will specify the level of enforcement of ticket evasion, leaving the means of implementation to be determined by the franchisee.

Earl Attlee: We have not ruled out the possibility that where commercial incentives are not sufficient, the Department for Transport may choose to specify targets for reducing ticket evasion in future franchises. This will depend on a case by case assessment of the circumstances of each individual franchise competition. If such targets are specified, the department would generally expect the means of achieving them to be determined by bidders.

Railways: Gatwick

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the provision of improved rail links to and from Gatwick, including an improved high-quality and dedicated express railway link into London.

Earl Attlee: The Government appreciate the importance of high quality surface access links to our major airports.
	In line with the Government's policy on rail franchising, bidders for the new combined Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern franchise will be required to consider the needs of different rail user groups, including those who are travelling to Gatwick and those bound for other destinations such as commuters.

Regional Growth Fund

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Wilcox on 16 March (WA 123), how many applications they received for the third round of Regional Growth Fund; how many small businesses made applications; and when they will publish the results of the application process.

Baroness Wilcox: 412 applications have been received for the third round of Regional Growth Fund. Of these, 240 are from applicants who in their application have indicated that the principal recipient of RGF funds is a small or medium sized enterprise. The results of the third bidding round are expected to be announced in the autumn.

Sexual Offences Act 2003

Lord Morrow: To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions in the past five years action has been taken under Sections 60A or 60B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 concerning the detention or forfeiture of vehicles (1) in England and Wales, and (2) in Northern Ireland.

Lord McNally: Section 60A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 gives authority to a court to order the forfeiture of a vehicle where a person has been convicted under Sections 57 to 59 (trafficking for sexual exploitation) of this same Act. The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences under Sections 57 to 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, by the number of forfeitures, in England and Wales, from 2007 to 2011 can be viewed in the table.
	Section 60B states that if a person has been arrested for an offence under Sections 57 to 59, a constable or a senior immigration officer may detain a relevant vehicle, ship or aircraft. The Home Office advises that information on arrests under Sections 57 to 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and subsequent actions under Section 60B of the Act, is not available. Arrests data reported to the Home Office are provided at offence group level only: for example violence against the person and sexual offences. From these centrally reported categories it is not possible to separately identify arrests made under specific offences. Data on detentions of vehicles resulting from arrests are not collected by the Home Office.
	Information for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Department of Justice, Northern Ireland.

Shipping: Armed Guards

The Lord Bishop of Wakefield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use armed contractors to protect British-registered vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden from Somali pirates.

Earl Attlee: The UK Government recognise that the engagement of armed guards is an option to protect human life onboard UK registered ships from the threat of piracy, but only in exceptional circumstances and where it is lawful to do so.
	The decision to use armed guards is one for shipping companies to make following completion of a full risk assessment and the submission of a counter-piracy plan to the Department for Transport.

Turks and Caicos

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the status of loans they have granted to the Turks and Caicos Islands; what value of loans is guaranteed; and when they expect that the islands will be in a position to start repaying those loans.

Baroness Northover: DfID currently has no outstanding loans to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI).
	TCI currently holds £119 million in debt guaranteed by Her Majesty's Government. Of this, £4 million is due to be repaid in July 2012. The remaining £115 million is due to be repaid in its entirety in February 2016. By building a track record of sound financial management and a significant cash reserve, we expect at this point the TCI Government to refinance their debts without a UK guarantee. The chief financial officer ordinance enables the UK Government to retain sufficient control over the public finances and so protect the interests of the UK as loan guarantor.

UN: Rio+20

Lord Stevens of Ludgate: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the cost of the UK delegation to the Rio+20 UN conference on sustainable development; and how this compares with the cost of the delegation to the previous conference in Helsinki held in May 2011.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The UK delegation at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) included representatives from several government departments, the devolved Administrations, businesses and non-governmental departments (NGOs). Each government department is covering its own costs, as are the devolved administrations, businesses and NGOs. Guidelines are in place for all government departments to ensure best value for money.
	In addition to negotiating the final Rio+20 agreement, the delegation has also used the opportunity for many bilateral meetings with other nations and to boost British trade and growth opportunities. A final cost of Rio+20 will be published shortly.
	The UK did not send any delegates to the meeting of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Global Sustainability in Helsinki, held in May 2011. Defra does not have a representative on the panel, and key officials were attending other key meetings-such as the Conference for Sustainable Development No.19 (CSD 19) and Global Environment Facility (GEF)-during the same period.

Uzbekistan

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Uzbekistan about reported deaths in prison in 2011 and investigations into them, and about arbitrary and pre-trial detention; and with what results.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There were a number of cases of reported deaths in prison in Uzbekistan in 2011, and several cases where bodies were reportedly returned to families with what appeared to be torture marks on them. Of particular concern were the reported deaths in prison of Okikhon Ziyokhonov, Abdullaev Mukhiddin, Umid Batirkhanov and Abdulaziz Mirzaev-who had been detained on charges ranging from attempting to overthrow the constitutional system and religious extremism, to theft-and the apparent lack of investigation into these cases.
	We also have concerns about the use of arbitrary detention in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan adopted habeas corpus legislation in 2008. We are working with the Uzbek Government to encourage full implementation of this law. In 2011 the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Akzam Turgunov, a human rights defender and member of the opposition "Erk" party, was being held arbitrarily. We continue to raise Turgunov's and others' cases with the Uzbek authorities.
	In 2011-12 the UK supported a criminal and justice reform project, linked to habeas corpus, which focused in particular on supporting judges' and lawyers' capacity to uphold rule of law and international human rights standards in torture cases. In March 2012 Baroness Stern CBE, Honorary President of Prison Reform International, visited Uzbekistan for a three day visit and held frank talks with the Uzbek Government on penitentiary reform issues. We are developing a project as part of follow-up to the Baroness's visit.
	Two UK experts are also currently participating full time in a wide-ranging European Union-led project on criminal and judicial reform.
	We continue to raise our concerns on these issues with the Uzbek authorities, and through the Human Rights Report at www.fco.gov.uk/hrdreport; and to monitor trials and cases closely.

Uzbekistan

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask Uzbekistan to admit the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for the first time since 2002.

Lord Howell of Guildford: A lack of verifiable information and limited access make allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in Uzbekistan difficult to assess. The international community, including the UK, regularly requests the Uzbek authorities to allow the return of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Torture. We will continue to lobby persistently on this issue. We also encourage the Uzbek Government to sign and ratify the UN Convention against Torture and its optional protocol.

Uzbekistan

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make fresh representations to the Government of Uzbekistan about freedom of religion and belief, in particular with regard to ending harassment of individuals and churches, and allowing access to the Hajj for all would-be pilgrims.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We raise freedom of religion issues with the Uzbek authorities on a regular basis. We believe that constructive engagement offers the best chance of making progress in this area and we will continue to raise our concerns with the Uzbek Government. We do this bilaterally, including through meetings at ministerial and senior official level, and jointly with the United Nations, European Union and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The visit to Uzbekistan by the Minister without Portfolio, my right honourable friend Baroness Warsi in April 2012, which included a call on the Bukhara representative of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, presented opportunities for detailed discussion on freedom of religion issues. We also highlight freedom of religion issues in our human rights report which can be found at www.fco.gov.uk/hrdreport.